Family stories lead Alba woman to share history

Posted 2/26/20

It started on her grandmother’s back porch. In between chores and school and play, she would steal up in a quiet spot and listen. What unfolded was like treasure to a young girl. Stories of the homestead and a community and relatives, some personally known and some known only in story, fueled her imagination.

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Family stories lead Alba woman to share history

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It started on her grandmother’s back porch. In between chores and school and play, she would steal up in a quiet spot and listen. What unfolded was like treasure to a young girl. Stories of the homestead and a community and relatives, some personally known and some known only in story, fueled her imagination.

It also piqued an interest. That interest would become a life-long obsession. History, more specifically, the history of families and ancestors came to be as necessary as water for Saundra Burge. Connect enough families and soon you have the history of a community. So it was that Burge became the unofficial historian of Alba.  

That back porch belonged to Burge’s grandparents, Walter and Naomi (Simpkins) Seaton. The house was on the original tract of 640 acres registered to Joseph Simpkins in December 1847. The Simpkins family would come to give the land for the first school, the first church, and much of the town of Alba.  There is probably no more fitting place for this story to begin.

Burge fondly recalls walking with her grandmother as she listened to stories about the original school.  As she grew, Burge began to appreciate not just the stories, but also the marvelous records preserved by her great-grandmother, Mamie (Metcalf) Simpkins. 

The collection of anecdotes and personal stories grew and grew. Burge became the referral for students who received assignments at school to research local history. As her files of historical notes, photos and interviews increased, her husband Robert would repeatedly ask, “When are you going to write that book about Alba?” 

That opportunity came in 1993. “Initially, the Ladies Club was looking for six photos to make a brochure for the county fair,” explained Burge. “I couldn’t settle on only six photos to save my life,” she laughed.   That initial effort to advertise for the fair took on a life of its own. Publishing a collection of photographs was the only logical solution. 

The initiative moved fast, and within six weeks A Century to Remember, Alba’s first one hundred years in words and pictures, was published. The book spanned the time from 1843-1943. Soon on the heels of that effort was Alba, Texas, Fifty Years to Reminisce, which brought the series up to 1993.  

Research into the Alba history books was prompted in early 2020 by talk about the expected growth of Mineola. The forecast is hopeful, even ambitious. Growth and development is on the way. If the projections are true, the little town of Mineola would be hard to recognize within a generation. 

The thought of such a changed landscape in Mineola led directly to Saundra Burge and a discussion of how one community endeavored to document their history.

“We all have them,” she admitted, “shoeboxes of old family photographs. We must save them or the history will be lost.” 

How could these old photographs be of value? Burge gathered herself and explained the very human value of such collections and offered examples to document that value.  

Since publication of that book, Burge has facilitated three families in reconnecting with lost relatives. She recounted how a complete stranger, upon realizing that a long lost family member would be found, simply broke down in tears.  

Perhaps the most meaningful call she received was from a gentleman in Austin. A family tragedy resulted in him being moved into adoptive care in Austin after having started life in the Alba area. The man explained that he found Burge’s book at the Austin Library, and in one of the photos of the Grit schoolhouse classes…there he was. It was the only photo of himself in childhood that he had ever seen. 

Calls and letters poured in from across the United States after publication. 

There certainly are more broadly applicable benefits from preserving the history of our small towns. Paging through A Century to Remember with Burge highlighted some of the positive things to be drawn from local history. 

Among a number of notable personalities, Doctor R.A. Farrington (1871-1955) is briefly noted. The doctor spent 55 years in practice in Alba and was renowned for his kindness and courtesy. All communities have men and women like Dr. Farrington – people who through the course of their lives benefit the community to a degree far beyond the norm. 

The descriptions of Alba and the smaller communities of Bright Star, Cottonwood, Enon, Grit, Gunter, Pleasant Ridge and Salem share a common theme. Once the founders of the communities settled into an area, the first project was to build a school. The school also usually served as a church, often a union church. It spoke volumes about what was important to forefathers as they lived hand-to-mouth in a new place. 

A photo of the east side of Alba square captures two produce houses. Produce houses were shops where families could bring their goods for sale: eggs, milk, butter, etc. It may not have been much, but for families existing on small holdings, it surely made a huge difference to quality of life. 

The photo of a large group of men conducting a “working” is contained in the book. The caption reads, “The old timers called it a “working.” This “working” was for Mr. Gilley Poston on his farm at Colony. The men of the community got together and worked his farm because Mr. Poston was sick.” Burge added that workings were quite common in maintaining cemeteries years ago. 

Perhaps the most accurate description of East Texas might be found in the chapter about Pleasant Ridge. Scouts for the families looking to settle in Texas reported abundant game, plentiful water and fertile soil. Those very same attributes continue to draw folks to Wood County today.

The thoughts, circumstances and histories of forefathers can yet teach. Perhaps in the harried, modern world, folks today could stand to honor some of the simple tenets by which they lived.  

As Alba City Secretary Lindy McCarty remarked, “There are people like Saundra Burge in every town. We are so grateful to her for having the willpower to put our history in print. It is one of the most positive things about our little town.” McCarty offered that it is

not unusual for out-of-towners to drop in and ask questions about Alba as they research their family roots.   

The two books may be purchased from the Alba Public Library located on the square. Proceeds go directly to the Alba Ladies Club.

Not to be missed is the excellent museum behind the library in the same building.  You may just bump into Saundra Burge while you are there. If you do, she would be delighted if you would tell her a story.